Granite Pass on the

California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

, located in what is now

Cassia County, Idaho Cassia County is a county in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 Census the county had a population of 24,655. The county seat and largest city is Burley. Cassia County is included in the Burley, ID Micropolitan Statistical Area. History ...

less than half a mile north of Utah, has historic significance dating to 1842 when it was found by Joseph B. Chiles to serve as an adequate emigrant trail route to come west toward California from the Oregon Trail route that went through

Fort Hall Fort Hall was a fort in the western United States that was built in 1834 as a fur trading post by Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth. It was located on the Snake River in the eastern Oregon Country, now part of present-day Bannock County in southeastern Ida ...

. Chiles was then returning east to Fort Hall in a small group that dropped out of the

Bartleson–Bidwell Party In 1841, the Bartleson–Bidwell Party, led by Captain John Bartleson and John Bidwell, became the first American emigrants to attempt a wagon crossing from Missouri to California. Beginnings In the winter of 1840, the Western Emigration Society wa ...

, the first group attempting to emigrate with wagons from Missouri to California. The Granite Pass can be seen from far away, coming from that direction. When Chiles brought a west-bound wagon group through the pass in 1843 it became established. The

eventually evolved and went through this pass; Chiles led seven different groups through the pass. When first used for emigrants as a wagon trail, it was part of Mexico. Archived fro
the original
/ref> A area at the pass was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1972.

References

Transportation on the National Register of Historic Places in Idaho Mountain passes of Idaho Geography of Cassia County, Idaho Natural features on the National Register of Historic Places Landforms of Cassia County, Idaho National Register of Historic Places in Cassia County, Idaho Road transportation infrastructure on the National Register of Historic Places {{Idaho-NRHP-stub